The Green Light

The Green Light

The green light on Daisy’s house that Gatsby gazes wistfully at from his own house across the water represents the "unattainable dream." But the green light also represents the hazy future, the future that is forever elusive, as Nick claims in the last page of the novel, "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter – to-morrow we will run farther, stretch out our arms farther…." The interesting question is, if the green light is the future, how is it so tied up with Daisy and the dreams of the past?


The green light is a multi-faceted piece of symbolism in the book. It's most obvious interpretation is that the light is symbolic of Gatsby's longing for Daisy, but that is too simplistic. Daisy is part of it, but the green light means much more. Gatsby has spent his whole life longing for something better. Money, success, acceptance, and Daisy. And no matter how much he has he never feels complete. Even when he has his large house full of interesting people and all of their attention, he still longs for Daisy. He created in his dreams for the future a place for her, and he will not be content to have that gaping hole. So the green light stands for all of Gatsby's longings and wants. 


And when Nick talks about the green light at the end of the book he says "It eluded us then, but that's no matter- tomorrow we will run faster, stretch our arms out farther...." . He connects the green light to all people. Everyone has something that they long and search for that is just off in the distance. That is the green light


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The Men Of Gatsby

Jay Gatsby

Long before Gatsby was “great,” he was a small town kid with big dreams. We learn Gatsby’s real back story fairly late in the game, but when we finally do, it adds infinitely to the real human tragedy of his life and death. It turns out that the pre-West Egg Gatsby wasn’t in fact the “young rajah” he pretended to be; instead, he was just a boy from North Dakota without connections, money, or education.


Gatsby/Gatz is a guy whose sickening wealth, sketchy business dealings, and questionable background make him both fascinating and repulsive – the people at his parties are glad to partake of his riches, but they’re all sure that there’s something not quite right about him. This sense of mystery is a large part of the public persona of the Great Gatsby; people are intrigued by him, but very few actually find out what’s at the core of this enigma.

http://www.shmoop.com/great-gatsby/jay-gatsby.html










Tom Buchanan


Tom Buchanan is Daisy’s husband, an extremely wealthy man, a brute, and an athlete. He’s selfish and does what he needs to get what he wants. Most of all, he seeks control of his life and control of others. When Tom figures out that Daisy loves Gatsby, he forces a confrontation. He is then able to use Daisy’s momentary hesitation to regain control of his wife. Master of the situation once more, Tom dismisses Gatsby – and his wife – giving him permission to drive his wife home. "He won’t annoy you," he tells her. "I think he realizes that his presumptuous little flirtation is over." With that note of condescension, it is clear to all that Tom has the upper hand. Although Gatsby maintains hope beyond this scene, we all know it’s over.






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Nick


We know very little about Nick. The facts he chooses to present are few: he grew up in a respectable Chicago family and went to Yale, he likes literature and considers himself one of those "limited" specialists known as a "well-rounded man," and he works in the bond business (that is to say, in finances) in New York City. He’s connected to wealthy and important people, like his cousin Daisy and Tom, a college acquaintance, but he is by no means one of them. Unlike the people who surround him, Nick Carraway isn't drowning in wealth. His perch on the outside of these lofty social circles gives him a good view of what goes on inside; he has a particularly sharp and sometimes quite judgmental eye for character, and isn’t afraid to use it.

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The Women of Gatsby

Daisy Buchanan

She is Nick Carraway's cousin, the notorious Gatsby's only love, but is also the wife of Mr. Tom Buchanan. Her story with Gatsby started before she had met Tom, and at the time they met she promised to wait for him because Gatsby was involved in the war and he wasn't wealthy so he had to show that he had money to lure Daisy into his grasp. As the story goes, she had forgotten about him and found a new love, a love by the name of Tom Buchanan, and sadly broke her promise to Gatsby, thus married Tom because of his wealth and power. Now in the present, Daisy has matured and has lived with Tom in East Egg which is right across from where Gatsby lives. When Gatsby and Daisy reunite once more through the connection of her cousin Nick, she has an affair with him and finds some "lust" for him. In the end Gatsby tells Daisy to tell Tom that she doesn't love him anymore and that she loves Gatsby, in a big twist she doesn't. She tells Gatsby that she did once love him, but not anymore, because she loves Tom and would never leave his side. People may have thought she was like a rope in tug-of-war, but what they didnt realize is that in the end she will only end up on one side all the time.

Jordan Baker

Daisy’s friend, Nick's so called lover, a girl that he chooses to romance with. She is a competitive golfer, and represents one of the “new women” of the 1920's, which is the typical boy type of girl, cynical, and self- centered. Jordan may be beautiful, but she is also dishonest, she chose to cheat in order to win her first golf tournament and continually "bends" the truth. She also shows that looks can be deceiving, which is  why Nick is only "halfway in love" with her, but she and Nick eventually end up "together" in a way, and Nick tells her how grateful he is that she is not like Daisy, the kind of girl who holds onto the past, a girl "too wise ever to carry well-forgotten dreams from age to age." She is also one of the least important characters, but she is also an important juxtaposition to Daisy.

Myrtle Wilson

Myrtle is Tom's lover, the woman he chooses to have an affair with. Myrtle isn't such a bright one, so she is convinced that Tom loves her and would leave Daisy  for her if he could. Since Myrtle has been unhappy with her marriage with George, she grew a connection with Tom because he is controlling and has authority in what is to happen. Like many typical girls back then, she put up with his physical abusiveness because she compares that to being masculine, which is something her husband doesn't really have. She even tells him "throw me and down and beat me, you dirty little coward!", which shows that she really likes the type of men who are strong and take control. And to her sad demise Myrtle comes running along to see Gatsby’s car, believing that Tom is driving it, thus she is struck and killed, when in reality her killer is Daisy Buchanan.

 

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